MAN'S BEST FRIEND
by mabb5
Summary: Chakotay. Janeway. A bathtub. Need I say more? Every fan fic writer has a New Earth story in them. This is my version. It's the prequel to my "Shaken Not Stirred" a/u universe.


_A.N. Just a little trifle. Everyone who writes Star Trek Voyager fan fic has to do a "New Earth" story. This is my contribution to the oeuvre._

_This story is set in my somewhat humorous "Shaken Not Stirred" and its sequel "Meet Me Tonight At Seven. Black Tie". This story is a prequel, since Kathryn and Chakotay are already lovers in those other short stories. _

_All of my STV stories so far, are AU, though they are not too far from canon. Or what we wished was canon._

_**Please let me know what you think. **_

_**All the usual disclaimers apply. Paramount's property. But fandom's playground.**_

_**MAN'S BEST FRIEND**_

Kathryn had to know what she was doing to him. Sitting in the shadows of their common room, he found it difficult to tear his gaze away from the window and what he could espy beyond. He found riveting, the sight of Kathryn taking a bath in the moonlight. Every now and then, the moonlight would glint off of the droplets clinging to her naked flesh, and he would imagine that he could see…

Never mind what he would imagine. That still didn't stop his body from responding.

_He wanted her… Desired her... Loved her…_

In the dark, he could acknowledge to himself of his love for her. He wondered if the right moment would ever occur when he could bring himself to admit it to her. _When she would be receptive to his words… and touch…_

Dammit. Ever since he'd told her of the angry warrior, he had had such hopes that she would eventually respond. But she'd said nothing. _For days_. And interminable nights. _She said nothing. Indicated nothing. _And now, she was taking another bath. In the moonlight.

It seemed as if all she'd done during the past few days was her research and taking baths in the moonlight.

She had to know that he was sitting here in the dark, trying to find the willpower within himself not to look upon her. Yet his flesh was weak. Though he'd never seen anything substantive, his imagination was pretty good at filling in the blanks from what little he did glimpse. And so, his body responded. There were only so many midnight swims in a cold river he could take.

_Why was he torturing himself so?_

Kathryn sighed. And sighed again. If she stayed in this tub much longer, she'd turn into a prune. So she sighed again. And hoped that one night Chakotay would figure out what he wanted. Either that or she'd have to stand in the moonlight in all of her naked glory and hope that he wouldn't ignore this blatant hint.

Leaning over the side of the tub, she searched for her washcloth. And couldn't find it. A glimmer of hope began to form within her breast.

It was the high-pitched squeaking that alerted Chakotay to George's presence. For a change, looking out the window he didn't glance in Kathryn's direction. Instead, he looked for the source of the chittering. He found George, the simian savior that had alerted Kathryn to the plasma storm, perched on a rock by his window.

"George, what is it?"

George handed him the washcloth.

Chakotay took it. "Thank you, I think." He handed George a grape. He'd discovered during George's occasional visits that George _loved_ fruit. _Especially replicated grapes._

Chittering his thanks, George munched away until he was finished. And then he scampered off.

Moments later, Chakotay heard Kathryn splashing about.

"Are you all right, Kathryn?"

"I'm fine, Chakotay. I'll be in shortly." She sounded perturbed.

He thought that he heard her muttering under her breath.

Sighing, and deciding that he should try to do the gentlemanly thing and not glance in her direction, he directed his thoughts toward the sand painting that he was contemplating as his next project.

His attempt at reverie was disturbed by some more chattering from George.

Looking up, this time George was waving a bath towel about. Quickly glancing in Kathryn's direction, he observed that she had washed her hair tonight.

_There's one more towel…_

Chakotay grinned even as he handed George two grapes.

George was most appreciative. He ate his reward and then scampered off again.

Chakotay gave up pretending that he was trying to do the gentlemanly thing as he waited with baited breath to see if George's light finger foraging could snare the final bath towel.

"George! Give that back to me!" Kathryn cried.

A grin crossed over Chakotay's lips. It began to grow as he heard Kathryn go from ordering to pleading with the simian to return the towel.

Exasperated, Kathryn cried out, "Chakotay!"

"Yes, Kathryn?" was his polite reply, even as he gave the rogue simian three grapes as a reward for bringing the final towel to him.

George chittered his delight at this bounty. And then swiftly ate them just in case Chakotay might change his mind.

"George has stolen my towels!"

"Do tell," Chakotay muttered under his breath. Raising his voice, he called out, "Shall I bring you some fresh towels, Kathryn?"

"Please do."

Somehow, this request sounded like a command to the commander.

The _devil _in Chakotay did battle with the _angelic _Chakotay's conscience. His palms lingered over the large bath towels. But as he stood to go outside, it was the washcloth that his fingers grasped.

If Kathryn raised a ruckus, he'd return for the larger towels. But the time had come for him to make his stand. With confident steps, he strode toward the bathtub.

Sensing him coming, Kathryn turned away from him, presenting to him her back.

_It was a beautiful back,_ Chakotay observed, even as he sighed, deciding that Kathryn was going to make this as difficult for him as possible.

Then she shocked him.

Stunned him.

Flummoxed him.

For Kathryn stood and stepped out of the tub, still presenting her back, and now her very tempting derriere to him. Not to mention her shapely, perfect legs…

The only thing that he could think of doing was to try to dry her back off.

Kathryn immediately recognized how small the towel was.

"You brought a _washcloth_?" Her voice was low, sounding sensuous, in spite of her words being a complaint.

"I grabbed the first thing I could find," he admitted even as his lips moved oh-so-close to the nape of her neck.

"You _oh-so-deserve_ this," was her response, as she stepped back into the tub, swiftly turned presenting her bosom to him, and as he stood there with his jaw dropping down somewhere near his thighs at this oft-dreamed of sight, she put her arms around his neck, gripped him tightly, kissed him intensely, and then sat down in the tub, pulling him down on top of her.

She didn't mind a bit how hard he fell down on top of her. The solidity of his body against hers was something that she dreamed of for far too many a night. Now that she had him where she'd wanted him, she was not going to let him go.

The splash he made was a big one. The tub lost more than half of its contents.

She didn't care.

And neither did he.

But she did care that his clothes were wet. _Wet, and difficult to remove_. So she diligently did her best to rid her former first officer of his wet clothes. With many kisses, touches and midst their laughter, she worked toward her goal. When she finally had reached it, stripping him buck naked, she reached down and relit the burner that heated the water. And then she did to him what he in turn did to her. Their loving was frantic and beautiful for their first time. The second round was much slower and sublime. And thoughtful…

A long time later, when the wind picked up and the balmy night turned slightly cooler, she contentedly sighed. So did he. And something more than their desired stirred.

"I suppose we should go inside." She shuddered at the thought. "Though we're going to have to do something about those beds."

Joy filled his being as his brain finally began to comprehend what Kathryn's body had already revealed to him - she was his. And now, he was hers.

"First thing in the morning, I'll work on combining our two beds together."

She trailed her finger down her lover's cheek. "Well, not the _first_ thing that we'll do tomorrow morning."

"It's my turn to make the coffee?" he suggested.

She nipped his lip. "Actually, it is." She licked where she had nipped, feeling his body shudder as he pressed his naked flesh closer to hers.

"So, my Kathryn, what are you suggesting that we do first thing in the morning?"

Her fingers slid down her lover's body. Slowly.

"I suggest that we continue to make love tonight." She kissed his chin. "And make love in the morning." She kissed the tip of his nose. "And then make love for the rest of our lives…" She kissed his lips. "I do love you, Chakotay," she whispered.

Passion was rising again, but as much as he was a man, he was also her former first officer. He knew his former captain too well in some respects.

"You want me carry you into our house," he deduced. He dramatically sighed. "I will."

"Because you love me?"

He sighed again. "Because I love you." And then his heart was in his smile and in his gaze, revealing everything to her. "Because I love you, and I will always love you. I loved you from the first."

"Well, I really don't want to get my feet dirty," she explained as she pressed lingual kisses down his neck before she began to concentrate on his collar bone. She reached up and kissing him on the lips. "And because I knew from the very first, that you would be trouble." He kissed her back with a rather great passion. "Wonderful, wonderful trouble. I do love you..."

The chattering of their simian friend disturbed them.

Standing up, Chakotay pulled Kathryn up and into his arms.

"He stole our washcloth," Kathryn observed.

"Man's best friend," Chakotay happily replied. Then he stepped out of the tub and carried her back into their home, standing her by his bed where he proceeded to thoroughly press and caress her dry with a pilfered towel. Then it was her turn to dry him off. And she reciprocated in kind.

Their loving was again bothered by George's protesting vocalizations by their window ledge.

"Oh, right," Kathryn remarked as she cooly left her lover's arms and went to their table picking up a small bunch of green grapes. She fed the now happy monkey, and then walked back into Chakotay's waiting arms. "Fair's fair," she explained as she tried to remember just how far she'd gone exploring on her lover's body.

"Huh?" was Chakotay's somewhat incoherent response.

"George. He deserved his reward."

Chakotay raised his head from an interesting area that he'd been examining on her trembling body.

"_Reward?"_

"Yes, _reward, Chakotay. _Who do you think trained George to steal the towels in the first place?"

Laughter filled their New Earth home as the new lovers fell into each other's arms on their bed each in accord with the other.

_**The End**_


End file.
